


Heads and Tails

by murdochinthetardis



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, immortal!Robert Svane, major character death but he comes back (duh), revenant!Doc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-05-20 03:35:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14886860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/murdochinthetardis/pseuds/murdochinthetardis
Summary: Two timelines stem from one moment. In the one we know, Doc didn't go with Wyatt to Purgatory. A series of events led to the timeline we know and love.In another, Doc said yes. In this timeline, he went with Wyatt and died in place of Robert Svane, returning as a revenant. This one event caused a butterfly effect that changed the modern day Purgatory we're so familiar with.When Doc and Bobo end up in this alternate timeline, face to face with themselves, they're forced to work together to get home- and to take another look at their relationship.





	Heads and Tails

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doc rides with Wyatt one last time.
> 
> Jeremy proposes a theory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternate timeline is in italics

People think that timelines branch off of big events. They think that for the world to be completely different, a major detail has to be changed.

This isn’t always the case. Time is like a river. It flows, it branches off, sometimes it even reconnects later on. However, a stream doesn’t always stem from the strongest branch. Even the smallest trickle can become a waterfall.

The world can change in just one word: “Yes.”

 

* * *

 

 

_John Henry Holliday was dying. Every breath felt like he was breathing sand, every step he took made his vision blur and his world tilt. He coughed more than he talked, and when Henry pulled the handkerchief away the white fabric was stained a deeper and deeper red._

_Doc still wanted to go out on his own terms; he’d go out fighting. One last ride with Wyatt Earp to a small town called Purgatory. He could have declined, said his last goodbye but something prompted him to agree. A voice in the back of his head whispered “yes.”_

_So there Doc sat across from his oldest friend in a carriage, leaning ever so slightly away, terrified of getting him sick too. Wyatt insisted that they take the carriage instead of horses._

_“It ain’t that long a ride.” Doc shrugged. “I can handle it. I’m not dead just yet.”_

_Wyatt flinched slightly at the mention of Doc’s death. “It’s longer than it looks. Why not ride in comfort for once?”_

_Doc scoffed. “I can ride in comfort when I ride in a hearse.”_

_“John.” Wyatt’s voice was firm and serious._

_Doc sighed and wiped the sweat from his pale brow. “Alright then. Carriage it is.”_

 

* * *

 

 

“You’re overreacting.” Wynonna said, sipping her coffee.

“I am not overreacting!” Doc exclaimed. “A grey hair!”

“You’re already the oldest one here, why is a grey hair such a big deal?” Wynonna asked.

Anxiously, Doc ran his fingers through his very brown hair. “I don’t look it though. But now that I am-” he gulped. “-mortal, I appear to ageing again.”

Wynonna held the door to the Purgatory police station open and the two walked inside. “Yeah, but you’re not ageing faster than any of the rest of us. Relax, stress will just make your hair grey faster.”

“You are not helping.” Doc grumbled.

“Hey, cheer up! You always have the hat to hide it.” Wynonna said.

“Hide what?” Jeremy asked.

“Nothing.” Doc replied curtly.

  
Wynonna ignored him. “Doc found a grey hair!”

“Cool! Can I see?”

“No, you cannot see!” Doc scoffed. “Surely we have more important matters to attend to than my appearance?”

“Come on, can’t we talk about you becoming a silver fox?” Wynonna laughed. Doc shot her a look, his moustache twitching like it did when he was aggravated. Wynonna raised her hands in defeat. “Okay, okay. Calm down, grandpa.”

 

* * *

 

 

_Badum badum._

_“Take the shot!”_

_Badum badum._

_Warm blood spilled through Holliday’s fingers. He was already on death’s door, he just decided to knock._

_Badum badum._

_Cloodi had grabbed him as a human shield. The stench of the man’s foul breath still hung in Doc’s nostrils. If Wyatt lowered his gun, the sheriff would get away._

_Badum badum._

_“Take the shot!” John Henry had yelled. With pain in his eyes, Wyatt obeyed. The bullet went right through Doc and hit Cloodi._

_Badum badum._

_Now alone on the floor of an empty church, John Henry prayed. He wasn’t exactly the religious type but hey, he was dying. For sure this time._

_Badum badum._

_Before today Wyatt didn’t believe in devils. Unfortunately the two of them had come face to face with one. Even more unfortunate, Holliday was now destined to become one himself._

_Badum badum._

_This didn’t feel right, Doc thought. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. He wasn’t supposed to die!_

_Badum._

_He didn’t want to die..._

 

_But he did._

 

* * *

 

“So I was thinking-” Jeremy began.

“Ooh, that’s new!” Wynonna laughed.

“Earp, please.” Dolls sighed. “Jeremy, continue.”

Jeremy’s hands fiddled with a pen, his eyes jumping from Dolls to Wynonna to Doc and back to Dolls again. They had been called to the station by Jeremy, who claimed he’d found something weird. Weird was their thing.

“I was thinking about… the well.” Jeremy mumbled. “Something just never felt right about it.”

“Perhaps the fact that I had been stuck in there for over a century?” Doc suggested.

“No. Well yes… well…” Jeremy chuckled nervously. “Well well.”

“Jeremy.”

“Right, sorry. I was just thinking… what if it wasn’t just a well?” Jeremy suggested. “Like, why didn’t Doc freeze to death during all of those winters? Why didn’t he starve or die of thirst?”

“Must we really bring up my mortality again?” Doc asked.

Jeremy continued. “Think about it! You got out and you’re here now. But you eat, you sleep, you drink-”

“A lot.” Wynonna interjected.

“Not what I meant, but yeah.” Jeremy twirled the pen around in his fingers. “You didn’t die or go insane after 130 years. You didn’t forget how to walk or talk after spending more time in the well then you did out of it.”

Doc shrugged. “I had the thought of killing Constance Cloodi to keep me going.”

“Thoughts of killing your enemy don’t really help an empty stomach.” Wynonna mentioned.

“So what’s your theory?” Dolls asked Jeremy.

“I think the well may be some kind of… magic wormhole?” Jeremy suggested. “Maybe a pocket dimension or a liminal space zone?”

“You’ve lost me.” Doc blinked.

“I think that time works differently in the well. That it’s more than just an old well, most likely something magic. I want to run some tests.” Jeremy explained.

“That’s gonna be a little difficult with you-know-who down there.” Dolls sighed.

“Can’t we take him out, move him somewhere else for a bit?” Jeremy pleaded.

“Oh, oh, can we use Bobo as a test subject?” Wynonna asked eagerly.

“I second that.” Doc nodded.

Dolls thought it over. Bobo was dangerous and his unpredictability gave him an edge. Maybe the time in the well had mellowed him out a little. Maybe the group could handle him for a bit, just enough time for Jeremy to test his theory.

Was the well really more than a hole in the ground?

 

* * *

 

 

One small choice causes a domino effect. The river splits apart. Everything changes, yet some things remain the same. Some things are always set in time. Some people, against all odds, are just meant to fall in love.

Call it fate, call it destiny. People are actors and alternate timelines are just different scenes. What Ifs become facts, foes become friends. Time is intricate, strong yet delicate.

And oh so easy to toy with.


End file.
